Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Leaders Expect Better Results

Good leaders expect better results no matter who is on the team roster.

If you expect better, you get better!

Leaders use emotional intelligence in the business workplace to develop new ideas and reach better results. Leaders work with managers to get the job done. Leaders work with managers to help them develop leadership skills and take their place or other leadership roles in the organization.

Charles Darwin said “It’s not the biggest and the strongest but the most adaptable that survive.”

Think about your team. Is your team big and strong, or is it fit and adaptable, ready to find creative solutions to the next crisis that comes your way? Is your team prepared to survive? As a leader have you done everything you can to ensure survival? Do you expect Better every day?

By expecting better results, people will learn to adapt. When you lay out the challenges of business before your team, you may see some apprehension, some excitement, perhaps even some fear. What you do as a leader is most important at this time. If you don’t ask someone to run, they never will.

Look at your business results for the past year, have you expected better of your team? Asked them to reach a little higher, push a little harder? They did, didn’t they?! It’s in them. It’s in you. Better is in every one of us! A good manager, modeling a good leader, will find creative solutions to bring out the ‘better’ in all of us.

Here are a few things good leaders do to get better results:

• They teach working smart. Not being busy and working hard, but working smart – focusing on the right thing at the right time, not trying to do everything at once and this includes delegating the right projects to the right person.

• Leaders look to experts for advice and execution. Knowing they are not the expert in everything, leaders put the right people into the right role to get better results. Leaders are not afraid to look outside the team for expertise or to bounce ideas for feedback.

• Leaders listen and take action – immediately. Procrastination is the enemy. What waits until tomorrow usually ends up costing money and time.

• They find out the roadblocks (by asking questions and listening to the answers) and eliminate roadblocks with solid decisions that can help the team move ahead efficiently and effectively.

Leaders understand that good enough is not good enough! To be better means to expect more of the right things from your team. A good manager can get the team executing all the right things. A good leader provides the vision of better and create an environment where better can take place every day!